Geneva's FreshGround Roasting keeps local cafes supplied

If you are a true coffee lover, it's quite likely the thought of being involved in a career based on coffee might cross your mind at some point.

That was the case for Eric Anderson. And the result of such a passion is on full display at FreshGround Roasting, a coffee roasting and equipment business he and his wife Krista operate at 321 Stevens St., Suite N, in Geneva.

"I looked at the possibility of opening a cafe years ago, but I decided that roasting would be a much better way to go," said Anderson, whose store has been in Geneva for three years now, after three years in West Chicago.

So, rather than take on the role of operating a coffee cafe, the Andersons took on the important task of providing roasted coffee beans and/or the proper roasting equipment to small coffee shops, bakeries and restaurants.

"We roast our own coffee and we source our coffee from all over the world from different missions and other organizations, or working directly with farmers," Anderson said. "We roast it right here in our shop in Geneva, then distribute it out."

Customers can buy coffee and equipment from the store or the company website. A lot of business takes place with churches and offices, in addition to those cafes and bakeries.

"We are not a coffee shop, because we have several wholesale customers in the Geneva area that sell our coffee," Anderson said. "If we were to start selling drinks, we could be in competition with some of our best customers."

Still, Anderson said his store does have "brewed coffee" for visitors to try while on site.

Ultimately, Anderson is pleased with his move to Geneva, saying he has enough room to grow and more customers continuing to find out about FreshGround's services.

A security role:

It was good to see Tim Baker's name pop up a couple of weeks ago as being hired for the safety/security coordinator position at Geneva School District 304.

It's an important job, and he's just the guy to do it.

Baker has been around the schools plenty, putting in eight years as the high school resource officer. Plus, he spent 20 years as director of the Fox Valley Operation Snowball abuse prevention program for teens.

At the same time, he was putting in 32 years of work with the Geneva Police Department before retiring in 2016.

We had to communicate with each other fairly often in the past in the usual cops-and-media fashion, meaning there were times we didn't entirely agree with each other. But we were always able to work things out and respect each other's roles.

In another example of his commitment to the community, my wife and I had a blast with Baker and his wife Sue when we all were part of the first Dancing with the Geneva Stars fundraiser nearly 10 years ago for the Geneva Cultural Arts Commission.

Back to Stockholm's:

Because I am generally on deadline between noon and 2 p.m. daily, it is fairly rare for me to have an open lunch hour. When I did, Abby's Breakfast and Lunch in St. Charles got the occasional visit from me.

Because owner Rob Mondi has to deal with some health issues and look for a possible buyer for the restaurant, it meant I was lured to Stockholm's in Geneva for the first time in a year or so.

As those who frequent the place often know, Stockholm's is a solid restaurant/pub that has had a good reputation for decades.

It does not disappoint.

Denny's finds its spot:

Denny's made a good choice in opening up in the former Honey Jam location along Randall Road in Batavia.

First, it's a decent restaurant that's not going to destroy your billfold in the process.

Second, it has the same basic setup that Honey Jam had, including the fireplace in the middle of the dining area.

Of course, Denny's has its trademark "diner" setting in the back part of the restaurant, where diners can sit at a long counter.

First and foremost, I think of Denny's as a breakfast spot. But we went for dinner last week.

The pot roast melt sandwich, basically a grilled cheese with pot roast stuffed inside of it, was a solid choice during our visit. A piece of pecan pie simply kept me in that Thanksgiving mood.

Those car crashes:

I'm not sure what the message was here, but while getting my car worked on at Firestone in Batavia, I was glancing at "Bad Drivers" videos on Facebook.

Then I walked out of Firestone to come face-to-face with the nearby business that moved into the former Aldi location off Main Street and Randall Road.

It's called Crash Champions, and it looks like they have done a great job of converting that grocery store shell into an auto body shop. I hope they do well, but after watching those stupid videos, I also hope I never have to call on them.

dheun@sbcglobal.net